Senate Inquiry into Proposed Amendments to National Housing and Homelessness Agreement

The Senate Committee has released its report on the proposed changes to the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, after submissions were made by a range of representatives from peak bodies across Australia, including our Victorian Council to Homeless Persons (CHP) and Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA).

Concerns raised by the peak bodies broadly address the following:

Under proposed legislation, states/territories could be penalised if they did not comply with legislated requirements

The terms that define compliance criteria are not clear enough

Rushing to put state housing strategies in place by June 2018 will lead to poor decision making

An extension of time should be allowed for development of state/territory agreements

Increase in funding in the new agreement will not match the needs of states/territories

In response the Senate Committee acknowledged these concerns, but indicated that the representative bodies would have the opportunity to address concerns as part of discussions during NHHA negotiations.

The Council to Homeless Persons have indicated that they will continue to advocate for greater investment in social housing and addressing homelessness.